[Federal Register: July 7, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 128)]
[Notices]
[Page 32181]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07jy09-80]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Intent to Repatriate Cultural Items: Bishop Museum,
Honolulu, HI
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3005, of the intent
to repatriate cultural items in the possession of the Bishop Museum,
Honolulu, HI, that meet the definition of ``unassociated funerary
objects'' under 25 U.S.C. 3001.
This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's
administrative responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003 (d)(3).
The determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the cultural
items. The National Park Service is not responsible for the
determinations in this notice.
Five cultural items were collected from Kanupa Cave, South Kohala,
HI, by J.S. Emerson and donated to the Bishop Museum in 1889, as part
of the earliest of the Bishop Museum collections. The five unassociated
funerary objects are three poi bowls, a wooden bowl and cover, and a
fan.
In 1939, nine cultural items were collected from Kanupa Cave, South
Kohala, HI, by Kenneth Emory, a Bishop Museum staff member. The nine
unassociated funerary objects are six pieces of aha, hau and olona
cordage, and three mat fragments.
The cultural affiliation of the cultural items is established as
being Native Hawaiian through Bishop Museum records and consultation
with the Hawaii Island Burial Council, Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i
Nei, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Both Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O
Hawai'i Nei and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs have requested
repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects. Each qualifies as a
Native Hawaiian organization under NAGPRA, pursuant to 25 U.S.C.
3001(11), and each is entitled to claim and receive the unassociated
funerary objects.
Officials of the Bishop Museum have determined that, pursuant to 25
U.S.C. 3001 (3)(B), the 14 cultural items described above are
reasonably believed to have been placed with or near individual human
remains at the time of death or later as part of the death rite or
ceremony and are believed, by a preponderance of the evidence, to have
been removed from a specific burial site of a Native Hawaiian
individual or individuals. Officials of the Bishop Museum also have
determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a
relationship of shared group identity that can be reasonably traced
between the unassociated funerary objects and Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O
Hawai'i Nei and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Both Hui Malama I Na
Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs have requested
repatriation of the unassociated funerary objects, and officials of the
Bishop Museum cannot determine by the preponderance of the evidence
which requesting party is the most appropriate claimant. Consequently,
pursuant to 43 CFR 10.10 (c)(2), the Bishop Museum will retain the
unassociated funerary objects until Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i
Nei and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs mutually agree upon the
appropriate recipient or the dispute is otherwise resolved pursuant to
NAGPRA or as ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.
Representatives of any other Native Hawaiian organization that
believes itself to be culturally affiliated with the unassociated
funerary objects should contact Betty Lou Kam, Vice President Cultural
Resources, Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI 96817,
telephone (808) 848-4144, before August 6, 2009. Repatriation of the
unassociated funerary objects to Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei
and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs may proceed after that date when the
affiliated Native Hawaiian organizations have mutually agreed upon a
resolution.
Bishop Museum is responsible for notifying the Hawaii Island Burial
Council, Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei, and the Office of
Hawaiian Affairs that this notice has been published.
Dated: June 18, 2009
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E9-16023 Filed 7-6-09; 8:45 am]
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